BSP tells banks: Refugees get banking access

After previously mandating tighter risk management procedures for banks, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has directed all regulated financial institutions to refrain from discriminating against persons of concern, such as refugees and asylum seekers, during customer due diligence.

- By DERCO ROSAL

According to a BSP memorandum issued July 8, all BSP-supervised financial institutions (BSFIs) are “reminded to ensure nondiscrimination against certain types of customers or against a certain religion, race or ethnic origin, or such other attributes or profiles” when implementing the laws on anti-money laundering/countering terrorism and proliferation financing (AML/CTPE).

The enforcement of such laws includes conducting customer due diligence.